Monday, January 19, 2009

The miracle worker

Much has been made of Mr. Obama’s eloquence — his ability to use words in his speeches to persuade and uplift and inspire. But his appreciation of the magic of language and his ardent love of reading have not only endowed him with a rare ability to communicate his ideas to millions of Americans while contextualizing complex ideas about race and religion, they have also shaped his sense of who he is and his apprehension of the world.

Mr. Obama’s first book, “Dreams From My Father” (which surely stands as the most evocative, lyrical and candid autobiography written by a future president), suggests that throughout his life he has turned to books as a way of acquiring insights and information from others — as a means of breaking out of the bubble of self-hood and, more recently, the bubble of power and fame.

The cable-news networks launched inauguration coverage at 10 a.m. on Saturday, setting the table for half a week of theater and ceremony, and also hoping to set the tone for half a year of programming. "This event helps build the next six months," MSNBC exec Phil Griffin told Variety last week.

The inauguration of Barack Obama, the first African American president, could be one for the ages, political analysts say. ... On Tuesday morning, a record crowd numbering perhaps in the millions is expected to spill across the National Mall as Obama takes his oath on the west steps of the Capitol. Later, at 10 official balls, there will be dancing.

But first there will be joyful weeping, lots of it. And plenty of self-congratulation.

After all, we Americans love to amaze ourselves -- and show the world how amazing we are. What could be more amazing than watching Barack Hussein Obama, our first African American president, swear to faithfully execute his office while resting his hand on the compact Bible used by Abraham Lincoln, who hastened the end of slavery?

"When Obama puts his hand on Lincoln's Bible and swears the same oath that Lincoln swore in an age when full equal opportunity didn't exist, that has to be considered a transcendent historical and emotional moment for the country," said historian Harold Holzer, who co-chairs the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which commemorates the 200th anniversary of the 16th president's birth in 1809.

Perhaps it's true: any American child can grow up to be president. It isn't necessary to accomplish anything. He doesn't even have to be willing, or able, to prove that he was born in the United States. All he needs is big-money globalist backing, sponsorship by a corrupt state political machine, a mellifluous voice, vague slogans, and promises for the redemption of his nation upon his election through a stimulus package -- dole money for the masses and pork barrel projects for the loyal -- on a scale hitherto undreamed of.

July 15, 2009, New Clog, Pennsylvania (Distress Press) -- When Leila Pook dropped a couple of slices of Wonder Bread into her toaster on Inauguration Day in honor of Barack Obama ("It wasn't 11 a.m. yet, so I thought it was a little early for a gin-and-tonic toast"), little did she realize that the result would be a miracle, one of the first of the Obama reign.

"You could have knocked me down with a feather when I saw His image pop out," Ms. Pook says.

But she quickly pulled herself together and called her church, synagogue, and mosque, all of which quickly sent representatives to verify the astonishing event. Since then, however, Ms. Pook -- who lives in a manufactured home in the Green Dream Mobile Home Park -- has had occasional moments when her momentous discovery seemed like something of a trial. When the news was reported, it took less than 24 hours for thousands of the faithful to queue up for a look at the Image.

"They were all very respectful, even the TV news teams from countries I'd never heard of," she acknowledges. "But I could have used a rest."

Ms. Pook has not charged anyone for viewing the Miracle Toast -- "That would be kind of sackrilitigious, wouldn't it?" she asks -- but her agent, the first of many to arrive on scene, is negotiating TV, film, and book rights.

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Olympus, where the abode of the gods stands firm and unmoving forever, they say, and is notshaken with windsnor spattered with rains,nor does snow pile ever there, but the shining bright airstretches cloudless away,and the white lightglances upon it.

MONEY

Zero Hedge: Everything you need to confirm your worst fears about the economy.

Market Folly: Learn from the hedge fund titans as they gain, or lose, hundreds of millions.

Charles Hugh Smith: "Consumerism is psychological/spiritual junk food ... well-being is increased by everything that cannot be commoditized by a market economy or financialized by a cartel-state financial machine -- friendship, family, community, self-cultivation -- rather than by acquiring more."